Prof, my 2 cents inline:
3) Since you got me to apologise i would also like to add that there was another remark on lambo, ferrari etc Let me tell you i traversed in and out of Malaysia several times this week but hardly gotta see any lambos/ferraris (even when i took Linkdua) today. Even when i used to regularly take Link dua earlier i could never see any of these nice cars. Ofcourse i see the occassional audi/spruced up Mercs and BMWs. But thats where it stops. I also traverse the N-S Hway regularly but hardly see these cars.
I see good cars pretty regularly here and i mean the really good ones. Agree that this won't change things significantly though
4) What i was trying to drive at was that for Iskandar to turn around based on a few lambo here and a few ferraris there... it will never happen. This is my opinion
Agreed, it is a surprise though that they are really starting to come in, i have passed G&G estates (brought in to view houses) where more than 6 houses had good (not just B&W or Merc) type. I actually see these cars quite regularly for some reason, maybe just the right timing. 
5) What Iskandar needs is what Spore is doing now.... A critical mass of talent pool and a critical mass of population. Now obviously a critical mass of talent pool will never be reached unless salaries match Spore standards or atleast thereabouts. A critical mass of population (average joes like most Singaporeans like me are required to reside there and purchase their goods and services)
The salary is a part of it, that is very true. The way i see it, it is only a part though, people from out of the state will have to form the nuclei of any initiative with the government forming the backbone of support. They are trying to do exactly that, by attracting people to set up companies and businesses here. (I just learnt recently that a business can be set up quite easily here, company wise is more complicated)
More and more people are starting to build businesses here especially in certain parts here, i saw how quickly shoplots were taken up as well as even the newly launched ones.
There are basically 4 groups of people who will help to support:
1. Foreigners who have or starting businesses here
2. The influx of foreign investment, Japanese, etc (shall not mention too much as i was requested) in key projects that has multi-government stakes in.
3. Government linked officials who have vested interest to promote investment and the new location of several key government infrastructure and projects
4. Internal Malaysia folks local and from KL who are investing in shops and houses here currently and also creating more jobs. I went to a few launches of shops recently, most were sold out and to my surprise, it wasn't just Singaporeans buying.
6) That is when the economy will boom, wages will rise, there will be a dearth of talent and thus an all round increase in the strength of the economy and its fundamentals.
Its by no means a boom town now or even 3-6 months from now but things are clearly falling in place, with the political climate stabilizing slowly and barring major incidents, we will know for sure in 2 years time. Whether it is sustainable or not can be argued but we know that they are serious this time about doing something.
7) For now you can point me to wikipedia/IM website and several others. But they are all talking about the same projects over and over again. The same words tipping points are being used all the time.
There are new projects, projects without involvment of foreign governments may falter but at least those related to infrastructure are getting into shape. The ones that have foreign government vested interests will likely to suceed and there are enough of these that more big government firms are going over here.
8) Now if the average joe gets a pay of Rm 1000 including commission you tell me how the economy will improve? Do you even think it will? How many high paying jobs abound? How many? I know I was pointed to a website but i could not find jobs with the kind of pay that will make businesses feel confident about the economic climate and sink their teeth into IM
There was one website i sent previously(not sure if you are referring to the same), the pay scale is much higher than the normal rate. The title and responsibilities are also very much different. There are hiring that are already going on much quicker than we realise. Things will still take their time to take shape.
9) Visit any mall in Spore. See how crowded it is. This is critical mass. Visit any store in IM. Chances are that most of the time the stores are with very few or no people inside unless they are low end stores.
This is very true but it is also because they have more land/space and are spread out much more.
How many Giants do you know are there in Singapore? I can go to at least 5 here. Carrfour, they have lesser, only a couple but Tesco, i can easily hit quite a few in a single day. Because their people go to SG to work on the weekdays, during the daytime, you see fewer people. Even on weekends, you may not see the crowd, thats because some are shopping in SG. I have neighbours who drive their cars to SG at certain times of night to SG, to casinos or to buy another branded bag.
I see people shopping until 1am at Tescos on Friday & Saturday nights and people at Giant until 12am on Saturday night (Sunday morning) but again, because there is so many malls around, you won't see that much people due to the sprawl. Things will be slightly different in a few years time as some developers are going to develop more commercial projects geared towards business. They won't throw good money if they were not confident. It used to be such a pain to find higher end items here for cars, IT stuff, its starting to be much easier now.
Visit the Jusco on the weekends at Tebrau city and you will see that things are busier there. This is as its a perceived high end area and the well heeled visit the Jusco there. Even Timberland is there. Speaking of which(they do have pretty nice (higher end) car accessories there at this Jusco)
Would appreciate it. Thanks.
